The Sickly Beast
by Nightmare on Titan
Summary: After being attacked by a beast in his garden, Ciel finds out about a family living nearby. He is invited to stay when they come to pick up the beast. But while he is there, he discovers the dark secrets that family's been harboring for centuries. Even with his butler, Ciel may not survive his stay at the Malade estate. Slight crossover with Left 4 Dead 2. Sebastian/OMC later on.


Panic. Chaos. Turmoil.

These were moods common among the staff of the Phantomhive Household. Their master was in constant danger, whether it is someone with a grudge, or destiny, there was always someone there waning to hurt him. However, no one suspected a Beast made of flesh, hatred, and plague lurking around the premises, waiting for the perfect strike on her prey.

It was an unusually peaceful day when she was discovered. Ciel was sitting in the garden, sipping on tea, while reading a book. Sebastian was contently tending to the flowers that he wouldn't dare let Finny touch. The thing was waiting in the bush next to the Earl, completely still, not daring to make a single noise to alert him. It didn't breathe, not that it needed to, and tried to hold back the sobs that wracked its body. On the disturbingly thin frame of the beast were the tattered remains of a white nightgown. The sleeves were almost nonexistent, and most of the skirt had been clawed off in frustration. Both her skin and dress were caked in blood and dirt, and reeked of dead plant material. Her nails were unnaturally long, and sharp, and were tough like a canine's. The beast's matted, brown hair that was turning white at the roots hung over it's dead, blank eyes. Sebastian announced that he was going to fetch some dessert for his young master. The Beast knew she had to strike. A few moments after Sebastian disappeared within the manor, tailcoat fluttering behind him, she launched herself from her spot, effectively startling Ciel. Her claws dug into his clothing, holding him steady midair, and were already slashing away at his chest when they landed. She made her way easily through him clothing, and was intoxicated by the smell of fresh blood. The light hurt her eyes, as it always did, but she was willing to put up with it if that meant curing her insatiable bloodlust.

The young lord screamed, thrashing uselessly from beneath the creature. It had ashen skin, and disgustingly pallid eyes that seemed to stare into his very soul. Her once bright eyes were now a sickly yellow, and flecked with crimson that seemed to swallow the whites of her eyes and crawl over the yellow like vines. Her skin was streaked in dirt, and long dried blood was splashed across her once white dress that was torn to shreds. What was left of the sleeves was tied down at mid-forearm and upper arm with linen, and the skirt of her gown hardly covered her knees. The Beast had dark brown hair, the back, which was shorter, was pulled back into a small pony tail that stuck out everywhere messily; but her fringe was long and unruly, covering up to her nose. Ciel was surprised that someone as thin and starved looking as she could keep him down with only her weight and hips. It was almost like she was a stick figure. Lanky limbs and gnarled joints that jutted out from her flesh. Behind her thin, torn lips were long, pointed teeth that slightly curved inward, and behind the first were a second row. It was a disturbing sight, and his heart pounded beneath the chest she so desperately clawed at. Ciel only found himself able to call out for his butler, who if he had time for, would yell at for not already being there.

"Sebastian!" His voice echoed over the garden, over the shrieking growls of the Beast. Finnian was the first to hear him, and to react because he was closest. He was a few bushes away when he had heard his master scream, and had already been on the way. He ran as fast as he could over to the scene and without thinking, dove and tackled the Beast off of him. Sebastian got there seconds later only to see him master attempting to sit up, and Finnian rolling in the dirt in attempt to subdue the girl who had attacked him. Ciel dizzily tried to stand up, clutching the table for support. His butler was there immediately to scoop him up in his arms. He was thoroughly worried; his young master had lost too much blood to even scorn him properly for being late. Before taking off he turned to the struggling Finnian and kicked the Beast head slightly harder than would be necessary to knock a full grown male unconscious. Thankfully, it had worked, and Finnian stood over her panting, looking up at Sebastian in thanks.

"See to it that this creature is properly restrained. I'll be back once the young master's wounds have been attended to." Sebastian turned on his heel and left without another word. He left to Ciel's personal bathroom. Sebastian discarded the clothing that was far beyond mending. There were dozens of claw wounds, both shallow and deep, and some would need stitching. Sebastian pulled out a small medical kit and tended to the wounds, washing away the blood then sterilizing with hard liquor. He worried when even the harsh stinging didn't wake Ciel. He stitched the wounds he needed to, and soon the Earl's chest was wrapped tightly in bandages. Sebastian got him dressing in a sleeping shirt and tucked him in, calmly telling him to rest though he would not hear him.

Sebastian stormed out of the room; his somber ruby eyes lit ablaze a bright pink. He knew Finny would have her in the wine cellar. Since Ciel drank mostly tea, and also since wine was reserved for parties, there wasn't much down there. Most of it was gifts, or anything they could salvage from the old manor. When he went down, her ankles and wrist were bound to the wall. Her teeth gnashed together, and her sallow and crimson eyes seemed to glow in the poorly lit room. Her figure all together seemed human, though her legs curved in a way that would suit sitting on her haunches rather that standing. Sebastian tilted his head to Finny, who awaited an order.

"Finnian, I want you to patrol outside, if there's one of these, then there could be more. Tell Meirin and Tanaka to stay in the young master's chamber and watch over him, and Bardroy to stay posted outside his room." Finny saluted and ran out of the room to alert everyone of their new orders. Sebastian almost found it amusing that he was the one giving orders now, despite his contract. He calmly discarded his gloves and tailcoat, folding them and setting them on top of a barrel of wine. He slipped and apron on over his clothes in case the Beast decided to star spewing bodily fluids. The fresh blood that was splattered across her once pristine nightgown enraged him. Sebastian had not been there to protect his young master from the quite literally fowl creature. She reeked of decomposition and decay, yet he found little to no rot on her. Sebastian placed to fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse. He did find one, but it was weak. He continued to examine her, from both at a distance and up close. He foolishly let her bite him once, but that was expected if one went poking around her mouth. There wasn't a scar to be left after a minute. There was nothing else to be done, so he took off his apron and put his coat back on, but not his gloves. He would need to wash his hands. Sebastian left for the kitchen, which was closest.

He took quick work of scrubbing the mixture of saliva and blood from his hands. Something was off about the girl. She wasn't any supernatural being that he could think of, and she definitely was not of the right mind. He would have to convince Ciel to keep her instead of killing her off. It was 6:37 when he checked the clock and though it was as good a time as any to start preparing dinner.

~o0o0o0o~

It was nearly seven when everything was done, and put into the oven to bake. He had at least an hour before it was done cooking. He needed to check on his master. If what he thought about the girl was true, he needed to be there. He checked his pocket watch, out of habit, before he left for his young master's room. He ran there, and a speed he wouldn't even use for chasing down a criminal he had been ordered to capture, or kill. Bardroy nodded when Sebastian walked up, and opened the door for him. Ciel was already up, and perched at the edge of his bed. Meirin was kneeling in front of him dabbing gently at the wounds on his chest. Sebastian had to hold back his sigh of relief that Ciel had finally woken up. Ciel turned his head towards him, annoyance in his single azure eye.

"I assume that you have taken care of that wretched creature," he said. Sebastian slowly shook and crossed his arm over his stomach and bowed. Ciel rolled his eyes. "Then see to it." Sebastian looked at his distastefully. Of course he would want her dead, she had hurt him.

"If I may, young master, I would advise against killing her. It appears that she is not fully sentient, and she attacked you out of pure animalistic rage. She is, most certainly, alive, but appears to be sick," Sebastian paused for a moment. "You can order me to kill her, but are you not curious?" A deviant smile spread across the demon's lips, and as Ciel was about to reply, Finny came running into the room.

"Sebastian! Some guys showed up at the gate, they say they know the girl." Sebastian's eyebrow quirked and Ciel leaned towards them with faint interest, though he couldn't move much with Meirin wrapping his chest in bandages.

"Oh and where are they?" he asked. Finny sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and pointed in the direction down the hallways.

"I took them to the drawing room sir. That's good, right?" Sebastian sighed and nodded, and told them to get out so he could dress Ciel in some clothes that weren't for sleeping, or destroyed. He ended up dressing him in the green variation of the outfit he wore today. Once they were done, they went down to the drawing room where the visitors were. As he thought, they were all peasants. Two of them were boys, and one was a girl.

The oldest was a guy, and was maybe twenty. He had sandy blonde hair underneath a grey flat cap. He had on a white shirt, dark grey pants, a dark brown jacket and boots, with suspenders holding his pants up. Stubble was on his cheek and jaw line, and he had green eyes that held flecks of blue and grey. The left half of his face was wrapped up in bandages that went as far as to cover up his eye, and went down past underneath his shirt. Some stretched across his forehead, nose, and neck to hold the others in place. Ciel couldn't help but compare him to a younger looking Bardroy. He sat in an armchair, looking weary, and saddened. He didn't notice Ciel coming in and was coughing a lot more than one should.

The second boy was much younger, but still older than Ciel himself, around the age of sixteen. He wore a dirtied navy blue waist coat, a white button up, and wore brown pants instead of shorts as boys his age would wear. The boy was sitting on the floor beside the older man's legs and was shivering, though it wasn't cold out. His brown hair, which was strikingly similar to the girl who had attacked Ciel, that hung in his face as he curled in on himself. From the glimpses he had, the boy had pale grey eyes.

The last person was a girl, no more than three years old. She had on a pale lavender dress and a bonnet, and lay in the older man's arms, soundly asleep. Her skin was flushed, and her eyes only opened for the briefest moment when Ciel and Sebastian walked in before they were closed again. Her eyes, unlike her brothers, were a washed out green color. Her blond hair was wavy, and her bangs peeked out from underneath her bonnet. She yawned and sat up, burying her face in into the man's chest.

The man stood up, somehow balancing the girl on his side, one arm under her to keep her steady. After wiping his hand on the side of his pants, he held it out for Ciel to shake. He took it reluctantly. They stared at each other for a brief moment before the man spoke. "Smith Malade. Nice to meet you, ah, er…" Smith trailed off, and looked away, embarrassed for not knowing his name. Ciel sighed, but still tried to remain somewhat upbeat for their guests.

"Ciel Phantomhive, and the feeling is mutual. From what I have been told, you're looking for someone?" Smith nodded quickly. "But before we speak; Sebastian, would you prepare some tea for our guests?"

"Of course my lord, right away." Sebastian walked out of the room, and to the kitchen to prepare the tea. Ciel motioned for Smith to take his seat, and then sat in the armchair opposite from him. Smith sat back down, trying not to jostle the girl.

"What are their names?" Ciel asked motioning towards the sleeping girl, and the boy sitting on the floor.

"This is Joelle," he answered, slightly rocking the girl. He looked towards the boy, waiting for him to say his name. When he didn't, Smith sighed and shook his head. "And that is Hubert." Hubert glanced over at Ciel and gave a low, annoyed growl before turning away.

"Why are you looking for the girl, and if I may ask, what is her name?" Smith looked down at Joelle and sighed. He reached under his bandage to scratch something, and wiped his hand on his pants again.

"She's our sister," he said quietly. "Her name is Hilary. We just… She was angry at a few of our other siblings because they were bothering her, and she ran away. We've been looking for her for a week." Ciel furrowed his eyebrows.

"All the way from London?" Smith gave him a strange look and shook his head.

"No, we live in an estate about five mile south-east." Ciel was becoming more confused.

"As servants." This made Smith laugh. Joelle slowly stirred from her sleep and started stretching and yawning.

"No, we are nobles." Ciel almost didn't believe him. Nobles? Dressed like that?

"If you're nobles, then why are you dressed as such?" he asked motioning towards their clothes. Smith, puzzled, looked down at his clothing, and then chuckled.

"Ah, in our family, our clothes get dirty and destroyed often, so we wear clothes that are not as expensive to purchase." Ciel nodded. It was within reason, but was no excuse to dress in rags. "Now, about our sister, do you know where she is? She's about 162 centimeters tall, brown hair; her eyes might be yellow, or red?" Ciel nodded.

"We have her in our manor. She was caught lurking in our garden when she attacked me." Smith completely froze. He scrambled to grab something from his pocket. It was a small glass bottle with a few pills inside of it. He pulled out the cork stopper and roughly grabbed Ciel's hand a poured two pills into the palm of his hand.

"You must take these immediately. She is very sick right now, and I'm afraid it is a possibility that you could catch it from her." Sebastian walked in a few moments after carry a tray with tea in it, and another with a small pitcher of milk. He poured some of the tea into cups, and some of the warm milk into another. He handed the tea to Ciel, Smith, and set a cup next to Hubert. He handed the small cup of warm milk to Joelle. Everyone murmured their thanks.

"Merci," said Joelle happily as she smiled and sipped from her cup. Sebastian smiled back at the small girl.

"Oh three years old and already speaking French, I'm impressed young lady," Sebastian replied purposely to see the young girl giggle. Ciel stared at the pills before placing them in his mouth and washing them down with a swig of tea. Smith sipped from his tea silently, staring at Ciel. Hubert picked up his cup and took a small sip before making a disgruntled noise and setting it back down on the floor.

Joelle stopped drinking to take a look at Ciel. Her small mouth turned into an 'o' and hew eyes grew wide. She tugged on lapel of Smith's coat, and once she had his attention, she pointed to Ciel.

"Est-il comme nous?" she asked. His eyes flicked up to him and Smith smiled, and shook his head at his little sister.

"Non, il n'est pas," he answered. She frowned and looked back at him.

"Qu'est-il arrivé à son oeil alors?" Smith shrugged at his little sister's question.

"C'est une chose très impoli de demander, mais je ne sais pas." Ciel let out a huff that sounded like a laugh as he watched the two. Smith looked at him sheepishly with a small grin on his face. "She's going through a phase. She doesn't respond unless you speak French to her." Ciel shook his head, amused.

"It is no problem. What was she asking about?" Smith looked down awkwardly and bit his lip.

"She was asking what happened to your eye," retorted Smith quietly. Everything in the room went still and quiet, a heavy blanket of both awkwardness and embarrassment lay over the room. Smith set down his tea cup and lifted the crook of his arm to his mouth and started coughing into it. It went on for a few moments, his lung rattling with fluids before he finally stopped to try and catch his breath. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," His voice was hoarse, more so than usual. "Can we see our sister?" Ciel nodded, and stood up from his spot.

"Of course, come one, I'll lead the way." Smith, setting Joelle on the floor stood up. Joelle's hands clutched onto Smith's. Hubert uncurled from his spot and rolled over onto his knees, hunched over. He strained to reach up and give Sebastian his now cold cup of tea. Smith crouched down so that Hubert could climb onto his back. The boy immediately hooked his legs around the older's waist, and latched his arms around his neck. Ciel was already walking out when he notice, but somehow, Smith managed to walk fluidly despite the 130 pound boy nearly molding himself to his brother's back. Ciel didn't bother questioning why. The boy's spin did curve more like a cat's than humans.

Sebastian lead them down a series of corridors, and then through to parlor to get to the kitchen. He grabbed a candelabrum from the kitchen and lit the candles before opening the door that led to a small, cold, room that held various fruits and vegetables. In the back was a cellar door. He handed the candelabra to Smith for a moment to open up the cellar doors, and then took it back, walking down the steps. Smith marveled at how clean they were. Normally stairwells going down into basements were dusty, and full of spider webs. This was wasn't. Smith looked strangle over Ciel's head to watch Sebastian. There was something odd about that man, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. One they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sebastian stepped to the side, along with Ciel, so they could get their sister.

Hilary was lying slumped against the wall, supported by her wrists that were still manacled to the wall. Her head was lolled to the side, and in the deathly silent room, weeping sounds could be heard. She didn't look up; like she hadn't noticed the five of them enter the room. Her legs were curled in so she was sitting in an awkward crouching position. She immediately stood up, sniffing the air when the door was opened. There were familiar scents, ones that she recognized instantly. There was one that smelled of smoke from those old, spiced cigarettes, one that smelled like soap and linen, one that smelled like her mom's spice cupboard when she would do baking, and one that smelled like sugar and leather. She could smell something else, but she tried not to, because the last man, who was the first to walk in smelled like burning sulfur and cleaning products. The scent made her nose sting painfully, and she couldn't help a small whimper escape from her mouth. The horrible smelling one came closer, and closer, nearly suffocating her with his scent, which she could only compare to dipping her head into a bucket of bleach.

When her wrists fell down, she darted away from the man and to the closest thing that smelled good, which was the person who smelled of sugar and leather. She buried her face into the fabric of his coat. She knew his smell too, was he that one she attacked earlier? Taking a whiff of his clothing confirmed that, but she couldn't bring herself to care, or apologize for it. She needed to get rid of the burning sensation in her nose that the man had brought on. It wasn't a wholly appreciated gesture according to Ciel who she had clung to. He let out an aggravated yell and tried to get away from her. Smith softly smiled and walked over to her, getting down onto his knees, his jacket off. She wrapped it around her. Hubert leaned over his brother's shoulder to see her, and held out a hand towards her. He jumped down once he felt his sisters, now dried, blood covered hand grasp his. He slid off of Smith's back so he could be by her side.

"Ma sœur!" came Joelle's delighted cry form the stairs. Smith stood up, his face amused with his youngest sister. He turned to where Ciel was; trying to move away from where Hilary and Hubert were, disturbingly close behind him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but we must be going, if you could be so kind as to showing us the way out, we would be thankful." Ciel nodded, and looked over to Sebastian for him to lead them. Once they were all out of the cellar, Joelle in Smith's arms, and Hubert and Hilary nearly clinging together, supporting each other as they tried to walk bipedal, Sebastian closed and locked the door to both the cellar and the food closet. The walk to the parlor was awkward and quiet, just the sound of breathing and heeled shoes against the floor. When they reached the front door, Sebastian opened it for them. Smith handed Joelle to Hubert, and told the three to go wait in the carriage. Both Hilary and Hubert gave each other strange looks, but did so anyways. Smith turned to face Ciel and Sebastian once he was certain that they were at least near the carriage.

"I cannot thank you enough for finding our sister. She is very ill right now, and we would have lost her forever if you hadn't found her," Ciel almost wanted to laugh at the irony of the statement. It was more like she found them. "As thanks, I would like to invite you and your household over for the weekend, if you so graciously would accept. Our mother and father will very much want to meet you. And we do not live far away, just a few miles south-east of here" Ciel gave a pseudo smile. He would dread going over their manor. If only these four acted like that, then he would presumably regret meeting the rest of them. But he still agreed, for it would be rude not to accept such a gracious offer, and would harm the Phantomhive's reputation. Smith notice that behind the smile was a slight look of unease. "If you want, of course, your servants can come as well."

"Of course, it would be discourteous of me to refuse my guest's offer. My butler, servants, and I would be honored to spend the weekend at the Malade manor," Ciel assured him. Smith grinned like an idiot at Ciel's promise.

"I bid you a good night. Until we meet again." Smith grinned again and turned around on his heel to lightly jog towards the dark oak wood carriage that his family was in. On top was their butler, Ciel presumed, and the sight of him bothered both Ciel and Sebastian. The man was like a sheet, his skin was pale, and his hair was a shock of white. His eyes were blank and some light color, and held no emotion. His suit, as well, was white, except for his waist coat, which was red. He almost appeared to be like a ghost. Once the carriage door was shut, he whipped the reins, not making a single noise, or showing any emotion on his face. He reminded Ciel and Sebastian all too much of Drocell, or any of the other dolls. He stared forward, eyes foggy and unfocused. The young Earl sighed and dug the heel of his palm into his uncovered eye.

"Sebastian, bring supper up to my study, and after so, I am to be left alone until it is time to rest." Sebastian nodded and bowed over, closing the heavy doors to the manors entrance shut. His wine red eyes followed Ciel's figure as he walked up the stairs and disappeared. Sebastian sighed. He couldn't get his mind off of the Malades. They were an odd bunch, smelling heavily of noxious smoke, and bile. He wondered what was hiding beneath the bandages of the eldest son, and what disease exactly would cause a human to act so. Rabies was a possibility, but she would be dead before the week was up, and would not have been as calm as she had been when her family was around. He though upon it as he went to fetch dinner that was almost done cooking in the kitchen. Hopefully, Bard hadn't gotten to it yet. He smiled, a small and mischievous one. This would definitely be a very interesting visit.

**You guys would not believe how long this took me. For the family, I spent hours hunched over trying to find the very right names for each person, so I hop you frickers are happy.**

**Ah, also, I do not speak French, so I've been getting bits form my brother, who does. This is roughly what they are saying.**

**Est-il comme nous?**

**Is he like us?**

**Non, il n'est pas**

**No, he is not**

**Qu'est-il arrivé à son oeil alors?**

**What happened to his eye then?**

**C'est une chose très impoli de demander, mais je ne sais pas.**

**That is a very rude thing to ask, but I do not know.**

**Ma sœur!**

**My sister!**


End file.
